LOUGHTON RESIDENTS

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LRA NEWS

Local Libraries consultation – please give your views here. County Council has announced a review of library services which could lead to Debden, , and North Weald libraries closing, and , Epping and Chipping Ongar having their hours significantly cut and kept open with volunteer support. Even Library (Traps Hill) - considered the district's hub - could have its hours reduced. In order to get a discussion at the next Full County Council meeting on December 11th, LRA County Cllr Chris Pond is leading a motion of no confidence in leader David Finch and Customer & Corporate cabinet member Susan Barker over these proposals. Chris comments: "Libraries are much more than books. They are an integral part of the social and cultural fabric of . This administration should be fostering libraries for all our futures not reducing provision from comprehensive to inadequate at a stroke." Library Consultation drop-in session at Loughton Library Tuesday 04 December 11am to 1pm - please go along (Debden Library, Tuesday 12 February 2 - 4pm – we’ll put in a reminder nearer the time)

Oakwood Hill estate. 5 years after LRA persuaded the District Council to allocate funds to the estate, the footpaths have been slurry-sealed and we hoped that was the end of the project. However, LRA Cllr Chris Roberts has been following up residents’ complaints about the standard of some of the workmanship, and the Council are taking this up with their contractors.

High Road streetlights. LRA Cllr Chris Pond reported half-a-dozen lights out-of-action recently – Highways have promised action within 3-4 weeks on all except one where a spare part is needed (delay unknown).

Loughton Station/Sainsbury’s car-park entrance. Last year I saw several near-accidents caused by drivers thoughtlessly stopping on the joint approach road to pick up or let out passengers, particularly children and particularly in the dark or wet. I asked NCP what could be done, and at a meeting on-site we agreed that yellow cross-hatching – to suggest No Parking – would help. There then followed a long process while my NCP contact got the necessary agreements and funding. I’m pleased to see that the cross-hatching is now in place – so please don’t stop on it (use the 20-minute drop-off area to the left, or a safe space in Sainsbury’s car- park to the right).

Rubbish on Great Eastern Path. LRA Cllrs Mark Dalton and david Wixley have been pressing the District Council to sort out the litter problem, partly caused by the bins over-flowing. The Council have now said they’ll get Biffa to empty the bins every day. [Please report litter problems to [email protected] ]

Nitrous oxide canisters. We get complaints from residents about the litter problem these can create (contact [email protected] or, in Epping Forest, [email protected]). However, there is a more serious problem, as inhaling the gas risks brain damage as the brain can be deprived of oxygen. The canisters are classed as a “legal high” and are ordered over the internet so it is the suppliers of the canisters that need to be targeted. LRA Cllr David Wixley has been discussing the problem with the Epping Forest Youth Council (see the item on page 10 of Loughton Town Council’s Winter edition of “Think Loughton”, recently delivered to homes in Loughton, about the work that the Youth Council is doing regarding drugs and young people with information about the nitrous oxide cylinders).

District Local Plan. Details of next year’s hearings to be held on the Local Plan have been announced. LRA and others will be appearing at the hearings to challenge the Council’s proposal to build on Jesse Green and various other aspects of the Plan.

76 Algers Road planning application for 7 flats (corner Lower Park Road) The LRA Plans Group, Loughton Town Council and some local residents have objected to this proposal as an overdevelopment of the site which would significantly change the nature of the area, change the street scene and set a harmful precedent in an area where there are only single dwelling houses (and no flats). There are also concerns about the effect on neighbouring properties and the lack of adequate amenity space or off-road parking spaces. (EPF/2881/18)

LOCAL NEWS FOR LOCAL EVENTS SEE SEPARATE EMAIL Check ahead for events in red, which need to be booked in advance! FOR LOCAL LEISURE ORGANISATIONS SEE http://tinyurl.com/pbel693

Loughton’s Christmas lights. Loughton Town Council took quick action when their distinctive new Christmas lighting scheme turned out to risk creating a health hazard. The contractors had installed flickering lights instead of non-flickering ones - they apologised and have modified the lights; they should also have made sure they’re all set to 24-hour illumination (some were on mis-set time-clocks). By now The Broadway, the High Road and Old Station Road should be resplendent once more.

GROW project and Pyrles Lane allotments: latest news – see here (items 113.1.1.3 and 113.1.2)

87 bus service. The Town Council is writing to Arriva to express concern that this service is not well used, and usage should increase if timetables are provided at bus stops, including those in Langston Road, and the route number was displayed on the bus stop flags.

NHS  How’s your ambulance service doing? And what are their plans for the winter peak? See here.  Princess Alexandra Hospital, : A&E Pressure & Seasonal Planning: see here Epping Forest Forest Focus magazine – Winter edition now available here.

District Council news  Park for free in any District Council owned car park on weekends from Saturday 1 December until Sunday 30 December  planned Council charges for services 2019/20 – see here

 Loughton Leisure Centre is benefitting from the new gym extension and usage is much increased as a result. A noise complaint from a neighbouring property has largely been resolved (although some problems persist and LRA Cllr Rose Brookes has been trying to help get them sorted out)  Landmark Building, The Broadway. The Council reports that tenants have now been secured for all of the retail units and were in the process of submitting the necessary planning and building regulation applications.  69 Church Hill: a decision on the planning application (EPF/2040/18) to demolish the existing bungalow and replace it with a block of 10 apartments was deferred by the planning committee, pending a site visit. The LRA Plans group had objected to this proposal as out-of-character with its surroundings, and for other reasons.  Street trees: the Council will be replacing dead or missing trees over the winter, including the ones outside 50 Church Hill and 7 Eleven Acre Rise. [If you know of a dead or missing tree, please let the Council know at [email protected] ]

Loughton Town Council news  New salt/grit bin at the junction of Mannock Drive and Goldingham Avenue. The Town Council is supporting a request This year’s Christmas Card from residents to the Local Highways Panel for a bin as this is Competition. Come and view used as a quicker route to schools. the fantastic display of cards by  Loughton Cemetery – recent memorial safety testing exercise. Loughton children & residents 257 headstones and tall memorials were checked; 18 had had to be picked by our Loughton Town laid flat and 2 discreetly staked and banded. The net cost of this Council Mayor & Deputy. work had been £1,158.15. The Town Council is writing to the last known address of the owners informing them that it had been necessary to take safety measures and providing advice on the options open to them.  Broadway Parking Review. At a recent meeting of a Town Council Committee, Cllrs expressed their support for the views of those residents and others who had contacted them directly that: o parking permits should not be imposed in any roads in the zone unless absolutely necessary; and o the quality of the consultation was regrettable with evidence of poor communication and typographical errors in the documentation. The Committee backed the views of residents particularly in the outer parts of the proposed zone by offering strong resistance to the imposition of permits in roads where there was currently no parking displacement. Detailed comments will be sent to NEPP.

 Untidy land behind 228-232 High Road. This is rough land used as a car park, and litter builds up. The Town Council has asked the District Council’s to deal with this; as this has so far not been effective, the Town Council is writing to the District Council, as the local Planning Authority requesting that they serve a formal notice on the land-owner requiring the land to be cleared up and kept clean.  Defibrillator. One has now been installed outside the Housing Office in The Broadway and this site has been added to the East of Ambulance Service’s database.  Planting Project. The Town Council, Environment Agency and District Council are discussing a proposal to undertake tree/vegetation planting on the current scrub/grass areas between the path and the river to help stabilise the banks. Trees are to be sources from the Woodland Trust.  Loughton Cricket Club. It appears that it may finally be possible to transfer the land to the Town Council, with the ground then leased by the Club. LRA supports this move as the best way to maintain the Club in the heart of Loughton, and avoid aby possibility of the ground eventually being developed.  Heritage Plaques The Town Council has ordered a plaque (at a net cost of £264.75) to record the home in The Crescent of Lionel, Lord Murray of Epping Forest.

Epping Forest Shopping Park.  Litter: litter bins were getting overfull and therefore litter was being left on the ground - the District Council has increased the frequency of litter bin collections and more litter bins have been ordered  The car park has been abused by other local businesses and commuters who have been covering their number plates or driving in the exit lane to avoid the ANPR cameras. Also the District Council needs to look at the traffic management of the shopping park as cars have been congregating at one end of the car park, near Aldi, which in turn has made the traffic queue across the lanes making it hard for people to turn in and out of the shopping park and causing tailbacks as far back to the M11 exit. (In addition the entrance/exit was placed almost opposite the exit from the VW showroom opposite – a poor piece of highway design which leads to traffic conflicts.). To control the traffic situation additional controls needed

to be put into place and the Council has asked Essex Highways to assess the problems and help find a solution  Effect on The Broadway? At a recent meeting of the Debden Town Centre Partnership the traders of Debden Broadway had raised concerns that the Shopping Park was negatively affecting the footfall and trade to local businesses. The District Council have belatedly re-commissioned the original consultants to repeat the original impact assessment and a report should be ready by the Christmas 2018.

Police & Crime news  District Commander talks to District Council – click on this link. EFNW comment that you can hear what he said  about one of his greatest challenges - social media and the kinds of comments being made on posts and in comments  on the closure of police stations (that this hasn't made much difference, and why)  about the recent public meeting in Loughton meeting and the fact that too many incidents are not reported. EFNW suggest you might want to fast forward a bit and then and listen to his comments about mental health issues, crime, retention of police officers and public meetings.  the recent drugs raids in the District: the District Commander on SkyNews, and the work of Epping Forest Community Safety Partnership with the police - see it here  reporting drug dealing. A Baldwins Hill resident reported to EFNW that when faced with blatant dealing in front of her children, they called 101 with little hope of any action being taken. However, they took the details of all the cars and their drivers, and a police car was sent straight over. We know that often the police cannot take immediate action, but the recent arrests of the alleged members of 5 gangs wouldn’t have been possible without several months of building up detailed information – and evidence which will stand up in court. The level of crime reports to 999, www.essex.police.uk and 101 do also eventually feed into the discussions on where should allocate their scarce resources – more reports can mean more police.  How many burglaries are there? Our Divisional Commander, Lewis Basford is concerned about the number of recent posts and articles which make it sound as if burglaries are far more frequent than they are. EF Neighbourhood Watch has supplied the data below to show that some of these posts are untrue. You can find these, and many more, at http://www.police.uk

OFFERS & HELP AVAILABLE

Financial Assistance for Loughton organisations Loughton’s local groups, organisations and charities are invited to apply to the town council for financial assistance for the period from April 2019 – March 2020. The closing date for receipt of completed applications at the Council Offices in Loughton Library is Wednesday 2 January 2019. In this current financial year, the Council has helped 24 groups totalling over £32,000 to improve or maintain their services to the local community. This sum includes the continued support for the Loughton Branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau based in the Loughton Library which gives valuable free help and advice to all that request it. If you are part of a local organisation that is delivering excellent work for local people in Loughton and require a bit of extra cash, then an application form can be downloaded from http://www.loughton- tc.gov.uk/Grant_Scheme_2591.aspx or contact the council offices for more information. For more information contact Brent Smith, Assistant Town Clerk, Loughton Library & Town Hall, Traps Hill, Loughton IG10 1HD. 020 8508 4200. [email protected]

HELP WANTED

Do you want to see an improved Police Service in Essex? And are you willing to pay more Council Tax to provide it? Those are the questions being asked by Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex. Give your views.

GENERAL

Join Epping Forest NHW Notices to get news and reports from Essex Police and help your local area to stay safe! This noticeboard is part of Epping Forest Neighbourhood Watch, and is open to anyone living or working in Epping Forest District..

Do you have CCTV at home, or a dashboard camera. [EFNW]  How’s your night-time quality? Have you checked whether a thief would be recognisable if filmed in the dark? EFNW suggest you do, and upgrade if necessary.  CCTV – no fee for domestic systems. Following the introduction of the GDPR regulations 0n 25 May 2018 domestic CCTV systems are now exempt and there is no longer a requirement for domestic CCTV systems to pay a fee to the Information Commissioner’s Office, even if the system captures images that are outside of their boundary. This advice is ONLY for domestic properties and not for businesses, the rules for them are different and they would need to check with the ICO. https://ico.org.uk/for…/data-protection-fee/self-assessment/  Dashboard camera. Individuals using a dashboard camera on their own vehicle would not be required to register their details with the Information Commissioner’s Office. However, an organisation using dashboard cameras for business purposes would not be able to take advantage of the domestic exemption.

TIPS FOR A CRIME FREE CHRISTMAS SHOP. The tips for a crime free Christmas shop start before you leave your house, after all you don’t want to come home to find the house broken into. 1. Garden tools securely locked away in the shed – Burglars will be happy to use your tools to break into your house. 2. Create the illusion your home is occupied - Radio and lights on a timer in rooms you would normally occupy, there is even a device called “Fake TV” that flashes a series of lights when it gets dark that looks like the TV is on. There are now door bells that you can view and answer from your Smartphone. 3. Lock up properly not just your windows and doors in the house, but also any gates and outbuildings. 4. Choose a “Park Mark” car park where you can http://www.parkmark.co.uk/ . By choosing a Park Mark® Safer Parking facility you are visiting a car park that has been vetted by the Police and has measures in place in order to create a safer environment for both you and your vehicle. 5. Leave nothing in sight within your car, remove the “Sat Nav” cradle and clean the mark on the windscreen. 6. When you lock your car with the remote look for the light flash confirmation or better still try the door handle before leaving the car. 7. Watch your purse, wallet, mobile phone and handbag especially in busy places, don’t leave them on display in bags or on counters while you pay, and while you’re paying watch that no one is watching you entering your PIN when making purchases or withdrawing cash. 8. Time to stop for lunch or a cuppa, don’t drop your guard. Mobile phone on the table, shopping by the chair, wallet or purse visible, coat, jacket or handbag over the chair; if a thief sees it a thief will steal it. 9. Need to off load some of those purchases in the car, look around are you being watched? Back to (5 & 6) above again. 10. Time go home, don’t fall for any distractions while you load the car i.e. “you dropped some money” pointing to cash on the ground, holding a map “can you tell me the way to….”. While you are engaged the second person steals from your car on the other side. Close and lock your car before speaking to anyone. Further crime prevention advice see https://www.essex.police.uk/advice/ or ring Essex Police on 101. [Essex Community Messaging.]

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NOTES

1. We expect to send out the next news bulletin on Friday December 14th. 2. In the process of drafting these items and sending them by email, some links to websites or email addresses can be broken; you can get round this by right-clicking on the link and then clicking “open” or, if this does not work, by cutting and pasting the address into an email or browser as appropriate. 3. If a web address doesn’t work, or anything else is wrong, please let us know at [email protected] 4. LRA gives no warranty about, and will take no responsibility for, items or services offered – purchasers/users should make their own enquiries, and will be acting at their own risk. 5. To enlarge a picture, click on it and then drag one of the corners outwards 6. EFNW = Epping Forest Neighbourhood Watch David Linnell © 2018 Loughton Residents Association

For more about LRA & Loughton see www.loughtonresidents.co.uk or email [email protected]

Promoted by & on behalf of Independent Loughton Residents Association of 20 Eleven Acre Rise, Loughton, Essex IG10 1AN